A La Carte Submission Assistance | Literary Agent And Editor Research

A La Carte Service

Tired of tedious hours spent researching places to send your writing?

Consider this: To send out 25+ well-targeted and well-prepared submissions, you’ll need to research MORE than just the 25+ markets that might like your work; you’ll need to research (and rule out) the hundreds of markets that are not right for your work.

But don’t worry! Help is here! You don’t have to go it alone.

For just $150, Writer’s Relief will research and hand-select the 25+ best markets for your work. No submission spam, ever. We offer 100% customized research so that your writing lands in the right hands.

Why is Writer’s Relief the best choice for researching submissions?

You can hire a personal assistant to do market research for you, but he/she probably won’t have the scope or expertise that we do. You might be able to find another submission service, but we’ve been around since 1994—we have a proven track record of success.

There are some online databases for DIY submissions, but they don’t cross check multiple guidelines and are user-generated (which leads to errors). Plus, only Writer’s Relief tracks agents’ and editors’ personal responses as they express their idiosyncrasies and preferences to our clients. We know the tips that don’t get printed in market books.

We also offer an exceptional price, given the number of hours you’ll save by having Writer’s Relief do your research. If you want to hear what clients (and others) have to say about us, click here.

After enjoying publication success as a Full Service client of Writer’s Relief, I brought out a book of poems. After a couple of years, I returned as an A La Carte client. Due to the excellent targeting by Writer’s Relief, I received two acceptances in my first submission cycle and have enjoyed three more acceptances since then. The staff is unfailingly helpful, friendly, and encouraging, and the bottom line is, the Writer’s Relief system WORKS!! I wholeheartedly recommend Writer’s Relief to any aspiring writer who wants the satisfaction of seeing his or her creative efforts rewarded by publication.

~Robert C.

How is A La Carte different than Full Service?

Our Full Service is our top-of-the-line, all-inclusive service for writers who want to make regular submissions as part of their strategy for long-term success. Our Full Service writers are deeply invested in establishing a reputation for strong writing. They want Writer’s Relief to take on most of the burden of making submissions so they have more time to perfect their craft.

Our A La Carte Service is for writers who submit irregularly and who don’t mind doing a bit of legwork in order to stick to a tight budget.

With A La Carte, we do the hardest part: the research. But you’ll need to do your own submissions.

Do I need to have my work approved by the Review Board to sign up for A La Carte?

Nope. Our Full Service clients who are making regular submissions are “screened” by our Review Board. But our A La Carte clients, who submit irregularly as they please, do not need Review Board approval.

What do I get if I sign up? Are there any 'extras'?

When you sign up for our A La Carte service, you’ll benefit from our expert targeting.

–> If you’ve written poems or short prose, we’ll identify the best literary journals for your unique work.

–> If you’ve written a book, we’ll pinpoint the literary agents most likely to be interested in your project.

You’ll also get:

An interactive PDF that makes online submissions a piece of cake

Free industry-standard formatting guidelines

Thirty-day access to your online submissions database

You can also add on Writer’s Relief expert formatting and proofreading. Just ask about getting a quote when you give us a call!

What will my responsibilities be if I sign up?

With A La Carte, Writer’s Relief will do all of the research so you can send your writing for publication (or agent representation) to the 25+ best markets for your unique work.

You’ll need to be able to:

Make your submissions from your home

Proofread and format your submissions on your own

Write your cover and query letters

Track your submissions on your own

Make decisions related to your submissions (about things like double acceptances or requests for exclusivity) without the assistance and support of a Writer’s Relief expert submission strategist

HINT: Writer’s Relief can do all of these things for you and offer ongoing expert support and advice! Check out our Full Service!

Can you write my cover or query letters?

Sure! If you don’t want to wrestle with the query letter for your book (or the cover letter for your short works), our expert writers can compose it for you in a collaborative process.

How long does it take to research the best markets for my writing? What are my responsibilities?

Our process for identifying markets is a bit interactive, so how long it takes can depend on how quickly you’re able to respond to our questions and fill out our “getting to know you” form. Once we have your materials, it generally takes about three days to research your 25+ markets.

Our A La Carte clients must fill out a Work Cover Sheet (it’s an easy online form) that identifies the main themes, topics, style, and genres of the work in question. Then, our researchers will look over your summary and will look over the work itself to be sure that we’re all on the same page. But we don’t do a deep read.

Our process has been shown to be effective time and again—and it helps us keep your costs way down.

What if I live outside the United States?

We primarily—but not exclusively—target American agents and literary journals. But we do have many clients who live overseas. All of your submissions will need to be done electronically.

How do I sign up?

It’s easy! Just give us a call toll-free at (866) 405-3003. Writers outside the United States can write to info@wrelief.com or call (201) 641-3003.